


Stargazer Lily

by greyheart



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics), Teen Titans - All Media Types
Genre: Dick Grayson Needs a Hug, Dick Grayson is Renegade, Gen, Humiliation, Manipulation, Physical Abuse, Physical Scarring, Slade Wilson is an absolute asshole, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Verbal Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:06:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27752020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greyheart/pseuds/greyheart
Summary: In a world where soulmates share marks, Dick has yet to meet his own match. But he’s got plenty of time, he’s only fifteen after all.After his time as Deathstroke’s apprentice, though, it no longer seems to matter.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Slade Wilson, Dick Grayson/???
Comments: 3
Kudos: 73
Collections: SladeRobin Week 2020





	Stargazer Lily

**Author's Note:**

> SladeRobin Week Day 7: Soulmarks 
> 
> Yes, Yes, this is super late. But not as late as the ones coming AFTER this one. Ha! Yep there are some more I still need to get out.

Robin stood before him, at the center of the training room, waiting on Slade’s command. He didn’t bother quieting his pleased hum and noted with amusement, the boy’s jaw tick. Willing or not he had great plans for his apprentice and this pride would only hinder their progress.

“Strip.”

The boy stepped back in surprise, “What?”

“It’s self-explanatory, Renegade.”

His lips tightened at the name but otherwise didn’t move, “Why?”

“Because I told you to,” Slade answered simply. 

“I…” he glanced around the room, trying for time, “I thought we were going to train.”

“We are.”

His frown deepened, “I don’t understand.”

“That isn’t a requirement to obey,” he said, offhandedly, “But what exactly about this is difficult to understand, boy? Your master,” Robin flinched, “has ordered you to do something and you will obey. Now, strip.”

Under the confusion and uncertainty, Slade could see the fear. There was a very obvious reason why Slade would be telling him to undress, something the boy was trying to avoid thinking about, something he couldn’t even bring himself to voice; afraid to make it real. Slade had no interest in sex with a child, or a teenager in this case, but he also had no intention of dissuading the boy of the notion. He needed to learn to obey his master in all things, no matter the emotions involved.

Robin hesitated a moment more before his hands began to make slow work of the clasps and buckles of his uniform.

Slade smirked. The teen wouldn’t look at him, his eyes darting everywhere else in the room.

“I said to strip, not put on a show, Apprentice. Unless this is common practice with the Bat? Does he enjoy a good tease?”

Slade’s smile widened behind his mask as Robin snarled and quickly pulled his shirt over his head. Sex and intimacy were clearly useful manipulations with his bird, it threw him off balance and he reacted without thought.

The boy’s hands hesitated at his pants but with a determined huff, they were off as well, leaving him bare to the chill of the room. He tried the stand tall, intentionally keeping his hands at his side instead of covering some of the more vulnerable area of his body but with each moment Slade remained silent he could see the boy’s resolve waver.

It was a simple enough vulnerability to exploit, all he needed to do was stand there and look at him. Robin wasn’t superpowered in any way, strip away his suit and his weapons and what was left but a naked boy pretending to be a hero?

He made his appraisal obvious but stopped as he spotted a dark mark high on the teen’s inner thigh.

Well. This hadn’t been part of his plan but it certainly presented an entertaining idea.

“Is that a soulmark I spy between your legs?”

Robin’s legs squeezed together, his hand’s purposefully covering the area now.

“What a perfect location for a little whore.”

Robin flinched, curling in slightly.

“You’d have to drop your pants and open your legs just to prove you were a match.”

Robin’s head lowered in an attempt to hide the flush of red that spread from his crown to his shoulders.

Slade hummed in contemplation and unsheathed a throwing knife.

The movement wasn’t lost on the boy and he easily caught the handle when Slade tossed it over.

“Cut it off.”

Robin froze, “What?” he whispered.

“More hesitation, Apprentice,” Slade chided, then his voice turned hard, “Perhaps I was unclear. Cut the soulmark from your flesh and give it to me.”

He could practically hear the boy’s heart beating erratically, his hand tightening on the blade.

“You can’t be serious,” he said, incredulously, then straightened, his face turning defiant, “No, I would never do that.”

“Renegade,” Slade warned, taking a step forward.

The boy immediately slid into a defensive stance.

“What’s the problem? Marks are destroyed every day,” he smiled, “That wouldn’t stop you from finding your soulmate. Surely you’ve documented the mark, had it registered, made it official?”

Robin actually looked scared now and Slade laughed, knowing his suspicion had been right. “Unless the Bat won’t allow you to register. After all, a soulmark would be too easy to identify if you were captured. His identity would be exposed along with yours, wouldn’t it? You’ve put off doing anything until you know who your soulmate is and to which part of your life they belong.”

Robin’s breathing was the only sound in the room, loud and harsh through his nose.

“Oh dear,” Slade mocked.

He could see the boy’s mind racing, plotting a desperate escape. 

Slade’s stance shifted and he knew Robin could feel the change in the room, “How far do you actually think you’ll get, little bird?”

His question was like a gunshot, prompting Robin into motion, turning and running for the door behind him.

Slade surged after him. The boy was fast, he would give him that, but the door was shut and Slade slammed into him hard as he tried to open it.

He cried out but slashed back with the blade.

Slade was surprised at the range of motion he was able to get and even with the angle being wrong for a stab, it still cut solidly across his stomach. Without his armor, it would have been a deep wound.

“Good,” Slade praised, grabbing the teen’s wrist and twisting it up. The right pressure had the blade falling to the ground as Robin cried out again.

Getting the kid pinned to the ground was more work than he would ever admit but it only deepened Slade’s desire to train obedience into him.

The cuffs clicking into place had Robin screaming in desperation. He managed to free a leg, kicking Slade hard in the gut and uppercutting him solidly under his chin. His vision sparked but his grip held the boy firm. Growling, he flipped him on his back and spread him wide, pinning one leg under him and holding the other at the knee, under his arm, putting the mark on full display. 

Robin’s upper body came up fast, to do what, Slade wasn’t sure, but he sent him back down with a sharp backhand, his head hitting the ground with a crack.

“It won’t be so bad,” Slade reassured, “I cut my own off long ago. I can’t even remember what it looked like now.”

Which wasn’t true but it didn’t matter, either way, he’d never cared to know who had the matching mark.

Slade ghosted his fingers up the bare leg, almost reaching the mark and Robin groaned, trying to pull his leg away.

The mark was still too light to have been activated, not a surprise, the kid looked sixteen and the marks usually only appeared during puberty, well, after both in the pair had reached puberty. Robin could have had his for a month or since he was around twelve.

Slade leaned in, “How many people have you let between your legs, hmm, and still no soulmate?”

“I never…” he shook his head, his eyes slightly unfocused, “please, don’t.”

“I wonder,” Slade hummed, pulling off his glove and inching his fingers further up the thigh, but never taking his eyes off Robin’s face.

The boy tensed, “No,” he gasped, struggling again but when it was clear he couldn’t do anything to stop Slade, his eyes closed, “No, no, nonononono.”

Interesting. He actually believed there was a chance they could be soulmates. Did he really know so little about it all? It would certainly be a welcome surprise, a permanent connection to his bird. It might just be enough to convince him to give up completely, but the mark stayed the same shade as his fingers pressed over it.

“What do you know?”

Robin looked at him in fear.

He tilted his head, “Nothing.”

The boy let out a sobbed breath, sagging to the ground.

“Oh well,” Slade said, pulling out another knife, “either way it was coming off.”

“Slade, no, please,” Robin begged, his voice reaching hysterics as he began twisting and turning as much as he could, “please don’t do this. I’ll do anything you want, please.”

“You will already do everything I command, boy, and I have little patience for complications.”

“It’s not...it’s my soulmate! You cant! Please!” He was now bending his knees, sliding back and forth on the ground in his attempt to free his leg.

“If you don’t hold still, I may nick an artery. Is that really how you want to die?”

“Get off me!” Robin snarled

He attempted to hold him still a moment more before sighing, “Fine,” and resheathing the knife.

Robin stopped in his struggles, caught off guard by the abrupt end.

“Too much of a bother to stem the bleeding,” he reached into a compartment in his belt, “Better to burn it off.”

He huffed as the struggles were renewed.

The lighter was the one he used to light his cigars but it was also able to form a high-intensity flame capable of cutting metal.

As he flicked it open, Robin flew up again but this time Slade met him, slamming his mask into the kid’s face, and was pleased to hear the crunch of the kid’s nose breaking.

Robin was too dazed to be a problem now and, as he readied the lighter, for the first time, Slade spared a second to actually look at the mark.

His thumb moved away from the flint.

He blinked but the shape of a Stargazer Lily stared back at him.

No.

“How long have you had your mark?” he demanded.

The teen groaned, probably not even hearing him.

He grabbed Robin’s hair, shaking him, “How long have you had your mark?”

His blink was slow, possibly concussed, “Nine.”

Slade released his head. Nine.

The timeline fit.

But, no. No.

He shook his head. There was no going back now. He could only move forward.

He sparked the flint and held the flame against the mark.

The flesh sizzled and Robin screamed.

It wasn’t a sound Slade was likely ever to forget. He’d heard plenty of screams similar, even from being burned, but this felt different and he hated that it did. It was enough to fuel him into keeping the flame against the skin a moment longer than necessary before turning it off.

Getting to his feet, he stared down at Robin sobbing on the floor. What must he be feeling right now? Did a mark’s destruction hurt more than any other wound?

He reached down, grabbing the teen’s hair and dragged him back to the center of the room while Robin did his best to get to his feet or shuffle along, mostly failing. 

“You think you're worthy of your soulmate?” Slade asked, shaking the head in his grip, “Look at what you’ve done. All at my word.”

“For my team,” Robin slurred.

Slade scoffed, “Will that matter to Batman? He’ll be so disappointed I imagine. Or did he already know what a mistake he’d made training you? Your foolish pride led you to be captured, put your teammates in danger. Will your team forgive your obvious skill for villainy now that they have seen it firsthand?”

The boy was a mess of emotions, unable to now hide any of his pain and uncertainty during this ordeal.

Slade leaned in close, “What if I were to tell you I knew your soulmate?”

The boy’s broken gaze locked onto him.

“What if I said, that as you are now, who you are under my tutelage, is a closer match for your soulmate than who you are under the Bat?”

“No,” he groaned.

“Yes. It is your soulmate after all. A match for who you are and not for who you pretend to be. Perhaps, I’ve underestimated how much you’ve enjoyed working for me.”

“No,” he denied, retching.

Hmm, his injuries probably weren’t helping him much here.

He dropped him to the ground.

“Believe what you will, little bird. But I recognized that mark the moment I saw it.” Crouching down, he took hold of the boy’s nose and snapped it back into place, letting him fall back down as he finally succumbed and vomited onto the floor.

He stood up, “I expect you out of those cuffs and for that to be cleaned up before dinner,” he ordered, then turned and took his leave. 

“Continue to look for your soulmate, Renegade,” he called over his shoulder, “open your legs to them and see who you find.”

Robin’s sobs were quiet but the echo of them followed Slade out the door.

  
  
  


Deathstroke stared intently through his scope, unwilling to risk being seen by moving any closer. The group sitting at the park a few blocks away wasn’t one to be underestimated. 

The Titans. The roster had changed over the years and he recognized a few of the originals but he had his eye on two in particular. Both quite a contrast in appearance to each other, Joey with his fair skin and light locks to Grayson’s darker complexion.

He hadn’t expected to see his son on a team like this, hadn’t even known until recently that Joey had any powers, but Slade could admit that the role suited him. In battle the group deferred to Nightwing but here, as civilians enjoying the day, the group seemed to revolve around Joey, brightening each time he smiled.

Maybe it was because his smiles were real and sincere, never for show. Slade marveled how he still seemed so pure and innocent, even after everything he had gone through.

As the others turned away, Joey smiled again, a coy thing, directed at only one member of the team.

Grayson, somehow, had only further grown into his good looks. It was ridiculous the amount of attention the young man received, yet he returned Joey’s smile, a little lopsided and shy, such a far cry from his usual persona. It lasted only a moment before his face promptly closed off and he looked away.

Joey’s smile dimmed as his shoulders dropped. He didn’t seem to notice Grayson's hand moving to his inner thigh, rubbing at a spot. Even after a few years, Grayson still held the seed of doubt that Slade had planted. There was a chance that he would avoid any relationship with Joey simply to avoid bringing up what Slade had done to him. Grayson’s consideration of others was certainly a fault that would eventually bite him in the ass but as it was, he would never want to potentially hurt Joey with that knowledge. And Joey…

Slade’s eye turned to his son’s left wrist, covered in a stylish band. He had taken his father’s advice.

“ _Hide your soulmark_ ,” Slade insisted, sitting at Joey’s bedside. 

He had snuck into the hospital room while Adaline was away. His boy was so small in the bed, his throat still bandaged from being slit, newly mute. And Slade, newly blind in one eye.

Slade had noticed the mark quickly as he had held his son’s hand. Marks were known to sometimes appear early, if the child had gone through a severe trauma and what had happened to his son had certainly counted.

“ _It could be used against you if anyone were to see it. Don’t show anyone until you see the match for yourself_.”

Slade pulled away from the scope. 

The circumstances that brought it out had been regrettable but Joey’s mark had been beautiful, much like his son, in the shape of a Stargazer Lily.

Joey would never see the matching mark now. 

He paused only a moment before packing his things away. It didn’t matter at this point. What was done was done.

He’d already taken so much from his son. What was one more?


End file.
